Stolz wins 500, opts not to race the 1,500 due to fatigue from illness

6 days ago 2

Jordan Stolz won the men's 500-meter race at the Pettit National Ice Center on Sunday early afternoon January 4 in Milwaukee.

He pulled the best time of the day at 34.761 – even though he has been sick, and even though he was already qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials Long Track team and just needed to show up to the starting line. But he chose to race it fully anyway.

And with a 9.8 opener, which is slow for him, Stolz opted not to skate the second race of the day, the men’s 1,500-meters.

For that race – which took place later Sunday afternoon – Stolz will just go to the line but not skate the full race.It’s an option that he has – and that he earned – being a pre-qualifier. Stolz was so dominant all season long as the No. 1 ranked points earner in the ISU World Cup season that he basically just needed to show up during these trials. The reason for his decision is simple. Stolz isn’t feeling well. He’s sick, and congested, and it is clear that he’s not his normal self.

“Yeah, I’m not to happy with 9.8,” said Stolz on Sunday after the race. “9.8 is three-tenths off where it should be. I’m a little tired from training and then from getting a little sick.

“I think the best is to go to the line for my '15,' qualify for my spot and just rest.”

The 1,500 meters is a middle distance, and can be taxing, especially after Stolz did two races already in the last 24 hours. “I like the 1,500 – it’s a good race – but it can be super hard,” said Stolz.

Stolz still wanted to try the 500 today, even though he had the option of racing the second 500-meters race on Monday.

But after a nasty spill in the beginning of the 1,000-meters he had on Day 1 of the Trials, Stolz wanted to see a race from starting gun to finish line.

“I wanted to see how my legs would feel today,“ said Stolz. “I tested it out in the 500 and it wasn’t a time I was too happy with.”

Stolz said he will decide on what he will race Monday morning. He could do a second 500-meters race on Monday and the mass start. Or just the mass start.

“See how I feel,” said Stolz. “I’ve just done a lot of training and coming in to this weekend I had a small cold. I didn’t get the recovery I needed in the two days leading up to competition. And after the 1,000 yesterday, I feel pretty tired.” Stolz’s training regimen was strong in December when he raced so well in Hamar and Hereenveen, and he trained through all that as well.

But Stolz is completely focused on 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, February 6-22.And he should feel great about his 500-meter race. Stolz’s recent, and long-term, history in the 500-meters race – the fastest of all the long track skating – is strong, consistent and dominant.

Stolz became the youngest skater ever, at 18 years and almost 10 months, to win the 500 meters at the ISU World Single Distance Championships in 2023 in Heerenveen, Netherlands. He then repeated as the 2024 World Champion in the 500-meters in stunning fashion. Stolz skated the 500 in 33.69 seconds, then the second-fastest time in history. Stolz's time was eight-hundredths of a second off Russian Pavel Kulizhnikov’s world record of 33.61, set in 2019. But a year ago, after suffering from both strep throat and pneumonia, Stolz took a silver medal in the 500 meters in 2025 at the World Championships.

Stolz is also the Pettit track record holder in the 500 at 33.91, the world record for a rink considered to be at sea level (not at altitude).

But it was Stolz's 500 races in December that should give him the most confidence in ISU World Cup competition. He set the track record in Hamar, Norway (sea level) at 33.97, in what was probably his best ever 500. And then he set the track record in Hereenveen with a 33.90.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Stolz wins 500, opts not to race the 1,500 due to fatigue from illness

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